Kalimpong, Dec. 15: Gorkha Janmukti
Morcha chief Bimal Gurung, who had earlier stressed that hill tribal
development boards must be formed only under the purview of the GTA,
today said he was not averse to the state government forming such
bodies.
“The state
government must set up development boards for all hill communities. Let
such boards be formed under the state government, but allow the GTA to
function smoothly,” Gurung said in Jamuni, near Darjeeling.
His climb-down has
come at a time several hill tribes — the Lepchas, Bhutias, Tamangs and
now the Limbus — have sought the formation of their own apolitical
development bodies under the state government.
Gurung’s remark also comes days before he is scheduled to meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Calcutta on December 20.
Posters demanding
the formation of the Limbu Tribal Development Council were seen pasted
in different parts of the hills yesterday by Yakthung Shong Chumlung
(YSC), an association of the Limbu tribe.
“We also want a
development body for our community under the state government because
the members of the community live in different parts of the state and
they, too, should get the benefits of the council. According to our
estimate, there are about 1.5 lakh Limbus in the hills and another
10,000 in areas such as the Dooars, Terai and even Salua in south
Bengal,” said N.D. Limbu, the president of the association.
The hill population is about 10 lakh.
Salua is near Kharagpur in West Midnapore.
The posters also sought the introduction of the Limbu language in schools across the state.
“The twin demands
once met would go a long way in preserving and promoting our language,
culture and tradition and ensuring the economic progress of Limbus,”
said N.D. Limbu, an ex-serviceman aged 80.
Limbu said the association had submitted a memorandum to the chief minister during her visit to Kurseong on October 23.
When Mamata
announced the formation of the Lepcha development board earlier this
year, Gurung said she was trying to divide the hill people.
But since she
managed to quell the Morcha’s July-September statehood protests, the
hill party has been seen mending fences with the government.
In what is being
seen as a move in that direction, Morcha leader Harka Bahadur Chhetri
yesterday said hill residents would like to see a local candidate for
the Lok Sabha elections.
“We are aware of
the aspirations of the people in the hills. We have learnt that they
don't want an outsider for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat. However, there
would be a series of discussions before our party decides on the
candidate,” Chhetri said.
The current Lok Sabha MP from Darjeeling is the BJP’s Jaswant Singh.
Source: The Telegraph